Please tell us how you became interested in sugar arts?
I started working on sugar some four years ago after attending a couple of workshops. It was a little tough but I keep on improving steadily. I started with local competitions and then participated at the national level and now finally have reached international competition.

Sugar is one of the most difficult arts in the world of pastry. We have a great infrastructure for training at Academy of Pastry Arts Malaysia where I work. The country’s world class training structure ensures that chefs get a great exposure.

Did you receive encouragement from your organisation in terms of infrastructure, equipment, raw material, and training?
Academy of Pastry Arts Malaysia is a pastry school which train students and pastry chefs. It is a very effective and high-end organisation which seeks to set international standards. Everyone here is focussed and supportive. When we represented Malaysia at Asia Pastry Cup, everyone gunned for the gold medal. Only gold medal! None of us even thought of silver medal. Equipment and ingredients were never a shortcoming for us. Feedback and training were always available to us. We were never worried about the infrastructure.

Please tell us about your preparation for the Asia Pastry Cup? When did you first start the preparation?
We selected the team in September during the national competition. Once the team was selected from October onwards we made a plan for six months.

We finalised the display structure first and then went for cakes and plated dessert. There were a lot of testing and challenging times but we were pretty much relaxed. We underwent individual training 12 times in a week. We did 6 sets of full trial runs with control on timing, movements and team co-ordination.

I think we were pretty much comfortable with what we were doing then. We knew that we were in the right direction and we just have to execute the plan.

What does it feel like participating in the World Pastry Cup? How do you assess yourself as a team at the World Pastry Cup?
Nothing in the world is better than doing what you like to do. Representing your country is the biggest honour you can ever have. We are a great team right now. Everyone in the team is working for Academy of Pastry Arts Malaysia which means the members can work together to understand each other and practice together.

Chef Niklesh, MOF chef Jean Francois Arnaud and other faculty members give us the necessary support. We are aiming to be among the top 3 in the World Pastry Cup 2015.

Please tell us about the preparation that you are making for the World Pastry Cup?
We are looking for a tight training schedule for the next six months. We will be working on a week-on-week basis, which will give us atleast 30 trial runs in total. Since there will be additional ice carving and pralines, we will have one more chef with us.

We have to wrap up the entire training schedule by December. That’s why I would say that the next six months will be non-stop tight schedule for us.

There will be some international workshops such as Asia Pastry Forum 2014. Therefore, we need to be organised in terms of timing and utilising the resources carefully. As far as our team is concerned, this is the best possible ensemble I can dream of. As a coach, I feel very proud and responsible. I look forward to a great result for Team Malaysia.